Information overload and resilience in facing foundational issues

The recent paper in PNAS by Chu and Evans (1), “Slowed canonical progress in large fields of science,” questions the maxim “more is better” when investing in science. They conclude the consequential increased production of new information is detrimental. Investigators increasingly rely on a few frameworks. Ideas challenging these frameworks are lost in the information overload and so not explored. Resilience is undermined. Their analysis is very interesting (1). It must strike many researchers as reflecting a cultural change, over recent decades, in their field. The authors, in discussing their findings, suggest the information overload per se causes ossification, as illustrated by their sandpile analogy. I question … [↵][1]1Email: peter.bretscher{at}usask.ca. [1]: #xref-corresp-1-1